n." ""^iN c(* ♦ 




















V 










WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE WAR. 



BY 



LEWIS BEACH. 





(^^/^ 



NEW YORK : 

JOHN F. TROW, 5 GREENE STREET 

1862. 






t 



^^ 



A WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE WAR. 



There is a question wliicTi every one is now asking, 
but which no one answers : What's to be the end of all 

this ? 

The object of the present paper is not so much to 
answer this difficult query as to suggest matters of fact 
that will lead to a satisfactory answer. 

Our Future ? What is it to be ? Is the integrity 
of our Government to be preserved ? This is the ques- 
tion of the present hour ; a question, the very impor- 
tance and interest of which, at this critical period, en- 
grosses the attention of every American, and furnishes 
ample apology, if any be necessary, for our feeble 
attempt to anticipate the march of Time, and seek an 
answer to our fears and hopes, from the Arcana cf the 

future. 

We are engaged in a mighty war. N'ot a foreign 
war, which to the body politic is like the liecit of corporal 
exercise, but a civil war, which is like the Ma of some 
consuming fever. History teaches us that a Civil War 
is invariably waged with unusual ferocity and followed 



by unusual uational prostration. Tliese two symptoms, 
the degree of ferocity and extent of prostration, are the 
distinguishing marks of a Civil War. We cannot claim 
that the contest in which we are now engaged will 
prove an exception to the experience of all past ages. 
It is a lamentable fact that during this struggle, acts of 
barbarism have been perpetrated that would be in 
themselves an indelible disgrace upon the Middle Ages ; 
and on the other hand, it may be safely predicted, that 
when our present difficulties are ended, as ended they 
must he, sooner or later, a general prostration will en- 
sue, such as no other country or age has experienced. 

The questions so much argued at the beginning of 
this strife, as to whether the South had a constitutional 
right to secede— whether the States, individually, were 
the arbiters of the delegated and reserved rights, or 
whether such arbitrament appertained to the Supreme 
Court, and a host of similar questions discussed on the 
floors of Congress and by the Press at large, only served 
to display the argumentative accomplishments of the 
disputants, without effecting any practical good. There 
was no use then — more than there is now, of disguis- 
ing the fact that we are engaged in a mighty Civil War. 
History will call it Rebellion, if crushed ; but Revolu- 
tion, if successful. If crushed, the leaders will be 
stamped as traitors ; if successful, they will be apotheo- 
sized as heroes. 

It is equally useless for us to repine over the want 
of a sufficient cause in the South for their conduct. The 
Schoolmen of old claimed that nothing short of an actual 
encroachment would render a nation justifiable in re- 
sorting to arms ; but the practice of more recent times, 



as well as common sense, recognize the just fear of 
some imminent iwil as a casus helli. The example set 
us by Henry VIII. of England, Francis I. of France, 
and tlie Emperor Charles V., is to the point. These 
three monarchs, during their lengthy reigns, were en- 
gaged in constant warfare. One of them could not 
acquire an inch of ground but the other two would con- 
federate together to wrest it from him. And this, but 
to maintain that great bugbear in European politics, 
but unknown in this country, "the Balance of Power." 

Nor is there any use in investigating the cause of 
this w\ar, except so far as may be necessary to end it and 
prevent its recurrence. 

It is equally idle to discuss how it might have l^een 
prevented, though all of us have pretty strong opinions 
upon this point. When the question, how could this war 
have been prevented, is asked. History will calmly point 
her finger to the answer of Appolonius to Vespasian. 
Vespasian asked him (Appolonius) what was the cause 
of Nero's overthrow ? He answered : Nero could touch 
and tune the harp w^ell, but in government sometimes 
he used to wind the pins too high — sometimes to let 
them down too low. Whether the immediate prede- 
cessors of our present Executive possessed Nero's musical 
accomplishments is not known, but that they had his 
governmental defect can never l^e the subject of serious 
doubt. 

The question is not as to the justice or cause of this 
war, or how it could have been prevented, but simply 
how it can be honorably ended, and to this we commit 
ourselves. 

It seems to us that the only policy is to draw 



6 

tlie sword and throw the scabbard away. Strike 
sure, but strike quickly. If the avahanche that impends 
over us is to fall, burying in its ruins tlie last lioj^e of 
Liberty, let it come. The dreadful suspense is worse 
than the reality. Better a dozen reverses and a final, 
conclusive victory, than a dozen successes but partial in 
effect. Better lose ten thousand lives in one battle than 
fritter away twenty thousand in ten. Better spend five 
hundred millions in one year than a thousand millions 
in three. Better in political (as it is in domestic life) to 
have a pitched battle and end the dispute, than wrangle 
from day to day. " Be ye angry, and sin not : let not the 
sun go down upon your wrath." By which is meant, get 
wroth as you please, but free yourself from the baneful 
passion as soon as you can. If this policy had been 
pursued, the chances of an amicable re-adjustment of 
federal relations would have been much more favorable 
than they now are. Every hour that this unnatural 
strife is prolonged increases that embittered sectional 
jealousy which was one of its main causes. 

There is one point upon which there is or should be 
no disagreement among all true loyalists, and that is, 
that now to retreat would be worse than to go on. We 
must defeat the army that surrounds the rebel caj^ital. 
Richmond must fall, even as Troy fell. Once in pos- 
session of the rebel city to whose defence the insurgents 
have summoned all their aid, and upon the stand or fall 
of which they have staked their cause, a new, delicate, 
but all-imjDortant question arises : What are we then 
to do ? 

There are some who believe that upon the over- 
throw of Richmond, the whole Southern j)eople, rank 



and jBle, will fall iu line and marcli briskly to tlie 
music of tlie Union. They delude tliemselves. No 
doubt a popular reaction in Southern sentiment would 
follow, but it would be confined to the masses. The 
instigators and leaders of this accursed war would 
stand aloof, bent upon mischief long after their power 
to accomplish it had passed away. The people of the 
South, at the present moment, consists of two classes : 
the one, those that are led ; the other, those that lead 
them. Considering that they are following a course 
that is suicidal to their best interests, we might more 
properly classify them as, on the one hand, the dupes ; and, 
on the other, the impostors. The relation, in point of 
numbers, that the latter bear to the former is about one 
to ten. The mischief that one designing political dema- 
gogue can effect with ten such impressible characters as 
abound in the South has been fully tested, and from 
the past we can judge of the future. Unless the insti- 
gators and leaders of this Rebellion are mollified and 
reconciled to a return to their allegiance, or unless their 
power to do evil is destroyed, the dispersion of the 
rebel army would be of little avail. So long as a 
discontented and grieved faction could keep their eyes 
upon their former idols, they would be ripe for sedition. 
Guerilla warfare would continue, necessitating the main- 
tenance of a standing army, which is opposed to the 
principles of our republican institutions. A Govern- 
ment that relies upon the supremacy of a military 
power for a cohesion of its various parts, would not be 
the Government contemplated by the framers of our 
Constitution. The only power that can operate with 
us, is that which proceeds from the consent of the 
governed. 



Are we tlien to pardon these heinous traitors, that 
have dehiged our once happy country in blood, and in- 
flicted a blow uj^on our national prosperity, the effect 
of which will be felt down to the end of the next gener- 
ation ? We answer in the affirmative. We must par- 
don them, and reconcile them to a reconstruction, or 
else destroy their power for evil. A Roman emperor 
or Turkish pasha would rid himself of an enemy to the 
state by the silent steel or poison, or by execution, but 
this is the diplomacy of a barbarous age. It would not 
do for the present day. Many of us remember the feel- 
ing occasioned, a half century since, by the exile of 
Napoleon. Even since then, civilization has made vast 
strides, and that act, if repeated now, would not be 
countenanced by the enlightened mind of the present 
age. Yes! political necessity demands a general am- 
nesty, and to this necessity we must yield, however 
strong our inclinations may be for a more rigid course. 

But condonation does not always heal. Mistaken 
lenity frequently destroys those that exercise it. What 
are we then to do?v There are two ways, as Lord Bacon 
has truly said, of overcoming the leaders of a faction : 
first by pouring honors upon them, to disarm their pre- 
judices and knit them closely to the State; second, by 
exciting divisions among themselves, and thus distract- 
ing the attention of their followers. 

The latter course will be the most facile and apposite 
with us. If the North shows that liberality of mind 
which rises to the surface upon great occasions, she will, 
by proper and timely concessions, draw the masses in 
the South toward her. The masses once united, the 
power of their former leaders over them becomes weak- 



9 

enecl, and tlie leaders themselves will fall to qnarrellino- 
without any excitation on our part. A failing cause 
always gives rise to crimination and recrimination on the 
part of its adherents, which, when sharpened by the 
pang of disappointed ambition, ends in mutual de- 
struction. 

But to return. We want no patched-up Peace. We 
must become reunited, never again to be severed. To 
effectuate this, there must be a reconstruction of the 
Union upon some broad basis that will allow all sections 
of the common country the equal and exact justice they 
were led to expect when they severally ratified the 
Constitution. We may naturally cling to the old Con- 
stitution, and dream that we can live again under it, 
happy and contented, as in days of yore ; but it's all 
a dream. There must be amendments or additional 
guarantees. 

Hence, when the final blow has been struck, and sub- 
mission follows, its terms must be agreed upon. An 
unqualified submission is entirely out of the question ; 
even if we could enforce it, it would be indiscreet to do 
so. It must be a submission upon terms. When these 
terms become the subject of discussion, it will be found 
that the same spirit of concession and magnanimity that 
animated the framers of our Constitution will be re- 
quired; and in their adjustment both parties will be in- 
fluenced by the advantages and disadvantages of the 
proposed system. 

It becomes necessary then to consider the advanta- 
ges and disadvantages of a reconstruction ; whether the 
former will counterbalance the latter; whether the 
benefits obtained on each side are worth the concessions 
they require. 



10 

Self-interest is tlie Archimedean lever that moves 
the actions of nations as well as men. As man drowns 
his individual resentment to promote his personal wel- 
fare, so nations, that are but an aggregate of men, bury 
the seed of their discontent that it may fructify and 
spring up to the National advantage. The same system 
of reasoning that a solitary individual adopts in the con- 
duct of his worldly affairs, is applical3le to a Govern- 
ment. National interest, national pride, and national 
jealousy are but the reflex of individual interest, indi- 
dual pride, and individual jealousy. They are as in- 
separably connected as shadow and substance. We will 
find, then, that when a reconstruction of the Union be- 
comes the subject of discussion, there will be the same 
cool, calculating considerations of j^ros and cons on the 
part of the delegates that have the matter in charge 
as is exercised by a single individual in the adoption 
or rejection of any proposed adventure. 

Hence it will become a mere matter of advantage 
or disadvantage to the respective sections of the country 
as to whether they will become reunited ; and any rea- 
sonable, unprejudiced person may correctly anticipate 
the decision of a convention. If the benefit and injury 
of any certain course are accurately known, one man, by 
api^lying the princi23le to which we have just alluded, 
is as competent as a General Assembly to decide the 
question. 

We propose, therefore, to enumerate a few of the 
most material advantages of a reunion. These may 
be treated as accruing first to the North ; second, to 
the South ; and inasmuch as advantage and disadvan- 
tage are correlative terms, the discussion will be simpli- 



11 

.fied by taking up that term wliicli presents the subject 
in the strongest light — not forgetting that the affirma- 
tion of an advantage in a union implies a disadvantage 
in a separation. 

First, then, argument is suj-yererogatory — an appeal to 
the selfish interest of our natures is unnecessary, so far 
as the North is concerned. We need no hio-her incen- 
tive to the perpetuation of the Union than that innate 
love we bear it. We love the Government that has 
made us what we are. The prestige of Union inven- 
tion, Union enterprise, and Union arms is dear to us. 
Every link of the sacred chain, commencing in the try- 
ing days of our Revolution, continuing on to the present, 
and losing its end in the unfathomable mists of futurity, 
is the object of reverential care. The liberty we've 
enjoyed under our Constitution, and what we've accom- 
plished under the protection of that liberty, cannot be 
lessened by the tongue of slander, foreign or domestic. 
The fear of the sober lovers of liberty and the asser- 
tions of monarchists (that too much liberty, such as our 
Constitution guaranteed, would lead to licentiousness — 
anarchy) have been dissipated hj fact. As if one could 
enjoy too much liberty ! As if we could poison our lungs 
by the inhalation of too much pure air ! Liberty is 
PowEE, and power is only unsafe when intrusted to the 
ignorant; and herein lies our safety. Educate the 
masses, and liberty is safe. If liberty is the keystone 
of our Federal arch, education forms its abutments. 

To return : We are called upon to enumerate the ad- 
vantao^es and disadvantasfes to the South of a reunion. 

Whatever is an advantao;e in a reunion is a disadvan- 
tage in a separation, and e converso. The first great 



--V 



12 

advantage in order, as it is in importance, is Protection 
to Slave Peopeety. 

In the Union, slave property lias always been acknow- 
ledged— out of it, tlie right of the slaveowner would 
not be respected. The South has no reason to believe, 
nor does she, that in case of separation she can expect the 
extradition of fugitive slaves. On the contrary, she has 
every reason to believe, and she does believe, that the 
incitement to the escape of slaves and the facilities 
afforded by Northern fanatics, will increase the number 
of fugitives tenfold. The South cannot count upon 
the sympathy of the States bordering on her confines, 
from the fact that they now possess a slave interest. 
Delaware and Maryland will become Free States, as like- 
wise will Kentucky and Missouri. Kentucky and Mis- 
souri would have been rid of slaves fifteen years ago, 
had it not been for the agitation of this question by the 
Abolitionists. A State will not be driven from a posi- 
tion, especially one involving a moral doctrine, any sooner 
than a solitary individual will. History and experience 
teaches us that error thrives by opposition. Leave it 
alone, it dies ; feed it with opposition, it waxes and grows 
fat. Thus it was with Mohammedanism. Thus it is 
with Mormonism. Leave a man alone, and if his instincts 
are right, he'll al^andon error. Thwart him, he'll per- 
sist init, even against his better nature. Such is human 
nature. ' Such is political government. Through pride 
we do things we should not have done, and leave undone 
things we would have done, had not pride been excited. 
Virginia must link her destinies with the Northern 
States. So must Tennessee and North Carolina. A 
political, geographical, and industrial necessity, stronger 



13 

tliau the mere will of their people, points to this conclu- 
sion. The instability and unproductiveness of slave 
property in Virginia, and the demand for it in the more 
Southern States, will rid the Olcl Dominion of the vul- 
ture that's preying on her vitals. The demand for 
slaves can be met only by the supply from Virginia, or 
the natural increase in this class of population. The 
latter will not be sufficient. Kenewal of slave importa- 
tion is out of the question. The nations of the world 
will not allow it. The efforts that have been made for 
the suppression of the slave traffic will be redoubled in 
future. There's no hope here. If Virginia finds, as she 
already has, partially, that her slaves are a drag upon 
her, and they are constantly escaping, she'll take imme- 
diate means to dispose of such precarious property. 

The fate of Tennessee and North Carolina is more 
problematical, but yet we think we can safely affirm 
that they'll eventually become Free States. They may 
become so at the eleventh hour; but, imitating the 
example of the good Master, let their recompense be 
equal with the rest. 

With Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Ken- 
tucky, and Missouri become Free States, and joined hand 
in hand as they should be, heart in heart, with the more 
northern States, what would the so-called Southern IJon- 
federacy have to count upon in protection of their fagi- %■ 
tive slaves? Perhaps they rely upon the continuing - 
effect of that sympathy which once linked them together. 
But reflection must tell them different. The common 
interest they once shared in slaves, severed — the error 
of their ways seen and abandoned, human nature would 
display itself as it has in all ages. The proselyte becomes 



14 

the enthusiast. We are so strangely, perhaps happily, 
constituted, that we want others to share our miseries and 
our joys. If they won't accept our kindly offer, we are 
so pugnaciously constructed that we immediately resolve 
to make them. This is perseci^ion! This is bigotry ! 
But yet it exists. The people of the border States, 
realizing the good flowing from an abohtiou of slavery, 
will soon grow to hate, as heartily as they once cher- 
ished, the peculiar institution. What they once scorned 
they'll embrace. The heinous sin of enticing a slave 
from his master will swell into a sublime virtue. This 
is the conduct of all proselytes. History proves it ! The 
insecurity of slave property, in case of dissolution, fur- 
nishes one of the strongest arguments in favor of union. 
If to secure the possession of her slaves the South took 
up arms, she must have been strangely infatuated. She 
has pursued the most effectual course to lessen their 
security, and all but the dupes know it. At the com- 
mencement of the struggle it was asserted in the North- 
ern press, and but faintly, or not at all, denied in the 
Southern, that the large slaveowners were the last to 
yield assent to the new order of things. It was so, and 
for the very reason we've asserted. The impending sword 
of exile and confiscation drove many a loyal Southron 
to the act of expatriation. The foundation of all gov- 
ernment is the reciprocal obligation of allegiance and 
protection. If the United States could not protect the 
planter, " What duty " (he may have reasoned) " requires 
me to extend my allegiance ? My allegiance is due to the 
Government that protects me in my rights of property." 
Under the influence of Confederate terrorism he has 
acted. But it is not displeasurable to undo an act done 



15 

under duress. Once remove tlie restraint by some deci- 
sive victory over rebel arms — not a local, partial success, 
but one that insures grand, sweeping results — and we'll 
see sucli an ebullition of true Union feelins^ throuo'hout 
the whole South as will give the fairest glimmerings of 
the coming dawn. 

The second grand advantage to the South in a re- 
union would be THE SAVIISTG OF THE EXPEISTSE NECESSAEY 

to the administration and support of a separate 
Government. 

The Confederate constitution, to all practical intents 
and purposes, is similar to our own. They have a presi- 
dent and his cabinet, with their stated salaries ; an upper 
and a lower legislative branch, who receive a recompense 
for their services. They have Confederate judges, cus- 
tom house officials, foreign consuls and ministers, and 
the same agents for carrying on government that we 
have ; and all are to be paid. 

They must adopt a postal system, and if it should 
not be more self sustaining than the Southern branch 
proved in the Union system, there will be a heavy 
annual balance on the wrong side of their national ledger. 

If they would maintain the position of an indepen- 
dent power, they must provide and keep a large standing 
army. They must also build, equip, and maintain a very 
respectable fleet of armed vessels. Their interior fron- 
tier must be zealously guarded by a host of revenue 
officers. Their harbors must bristle with extensive forti- 
fications, built at enormous expense. 

They certainly would not have the temerity to omit 
these necessary precautions, after having acquired their 
independence. They would not be so rash as to think 



16 

that the North could live j^eaceably by their side, and 
calmly behold the expansion of slave power. A new 
era would dawn. The political dogma of the Old World 
would be transj^lanted in the New, and on the floors of 
Congress and in the counsels of the cabinet would be 
heard the cry, "The balance of power must be j^re- 
served." 

Is each of the Southern States going to bear one 
seventh of this heavy burden, when they can live under 
a precisely similar Government, with more protection 
and greater liberty, at an expense of one thirty-fourth ? 
Will they pay ten dollars for what they can get better 
at two ? 

It has been asserted that the protective tariff, which 
was beneficial to Northern States but ruinous to South- 
ern, was one of the causes of this rebellion. As we 
have shown that security for slave property was not a 
sufficient reason for their resort to arms, so we now 
assert that the tariff is equally insufficient. Heduce 
what the South has lost in any one year by operation 
of any Federal tariff to dollars and cents. Place be- 
neath the annual cost of administering and supporting 
a separate Government. Deduct ! You can't ! Reverse 
the position of the figures. You have it now. Thus it 
would appear ! the South had better yield to a tariff 
tenfold as excessive as any we have ever had, rather than 
submit to the expense of a sej^arate Government. 

The next imj^ortant advantage of a reunion is the 

PEOCUEEMENT OF NoRTHEKN MANUFACTURES FREE OF 

DUTY. The South has always prided herself upon 
being an agricultural people, and her political leaders 
have held the doctrine that they must " sell dear and 



17 

buy clieap." Hence tlieir aversion to a protective tariff. 
Hence the free trade doctrine, which in American poli- 
tics is the growth of a Southern chmate. Will the cry 
of " free trade " resound throughout the South, in the 
event of her independence ? We answer, No ! most 
emphatically, No ! The political economist of the pres- 
ent day condemns the protective principle. It is wrong. 
The theory that Government should protect this inter- 
est and that interest — ^literature here, arts there — 'is ex- 
ploded. Nevertheless, we venture to affirm that in all 
new countries, and especially so in the South, the pro- 
tective principle must be initiated and carried out, for a 
time at least, to encoura2:e home manufactures. The 
South cannot compete with Northern capital and 
Northern labor. She must, then, either impose pro- 
tective duties upon her imports, or, admitting them 
free, discourage manufactures at home. She must 
advance or stand still. If the former, she must have a 
protective tariff; if the latter, she must rely, as hereto- 
fore, upon Northern manufactures. 

But how can the South manufacture I Slavery 
shuts out free labor. The ne2:roes are for the soil. 
Admitting, however, that they would make good fac- 
tory operatives, every negro so employed is one with- 
drawn from agricultural pursuits. Agriculture in the 
South is more 23rofitable than manufacture. Who, 
then, would divert slave labor from a remunerative 
channel to an unprofitable one? 

The South, then, must yield the championship of 
free trade, and become the supporters of a ruinous 
tariff, for the rate will be proportioned to the differ- 
ence in cost of the foreign and home product. And 
2 



18 

here we have a reversal of the Southern doctrine. 
They will " sell cheaj) and purchase dear." If the people 
of the South have been deluded into this war by oppo- 
sition to the protective tariff principle, they will find 
that they have put the ball out of one hand only to 
take it up with the other. 

The fourth advantage in a reunion would be the 

ABSENCE OF THE EVILS ATTENDANT UPON A GEOGEAPHICAL 

LINE OF DIVISION. Thcse evils are : 1st, smuggling ; 2d, 
border warfare. The facts of history are too well 
known to us all to require any remarks upon this topic. 
The expense necessary to suppress smuggling, when the 
line of division is inland — in fact, the utter impossibility 
of doing so — ^iDCsides the immoral influences of the prac- 
tice, render it one of the greatest of national evils. So 
with border warfare. The whole frontier of the two 
nations would have to be constantly guarded by a 
numerous army, maintained at an enormous expense. 
We all have read the history of Scottish border war- 
fare, and from it we can form a faint idea of the pre- 
carious tenure of life and property on the frontiers, if 
this Union is severed. With the Scots, whom a modern 
English writer of eminence has called " a nation of 
thieves," the object of crossing the line was simply 
theft — a drove of cattle secured, a little malicious in- 
jury done to sj^ice the affair, and they returned to their 
homes. Not so would it be with us. Hostile incur- 
sions would be inaugurated, not for theft, but to redress 
some wrong, actual or fancied. A man will rarely de- 
stroy life or property when theft is his object ; but when 
retaliation or revenge urges him on, no life or property 
is secure from his devastating hand. The " inevitable 



19 

neo-ro " would be the source of more trouble to both 
sections after a separation tliau lie was before. Frequent 
escapes, while they exasperated the South, Tvould deluge 
the North with that black immigration which many of 
the States have endeavored to prevent by legislative 
penalties. The bondman, once impressed with the idea 
that freedom and himself were separated by but a few 
miles, would soon gain heart to try and means to effectu- 
ate his delivery. The certainty of being pursued would 
lose its terrors in proportion to the distance to be 
travelled. Let him but reach the line— he is safe — he 
is free. The invasion of Northern territory will not 
become the subject of much reflection by the eager 
pursuers in the heat of chase. They cross the line, 
capture the fugitive, and return homeward. But 
hark ! A hue and cry ! To the rescue ! The pur- 
suers become the pursued. A hundred freemen spring 
to arms to avenge the desecration of their soil. They 
pursue ! They fight ! Blood spilt. The fugitive retaken. 
Hence spring reprisals, capture and recapture, involv- 
ing a constant warfare, the atrocities of which will only 
be equalled by the earnestness of the respective com 
batacts. 

The fifth (and last that we will mention) advantage 
in a reunion, would be the power and stability of gov- 
ernment. No one wants to live under a weak or insta- 
ble government. In proportion to the strength of a 
government is the protection of the citizen, and in 
proportion to its stability is the endurance of that pro. 
tection. 

The Southern States have formed what they call a 
Confederacy. This is not a new idea in history, nor a 



20 

new idea in the liistory of this country. In the con- 
vention that framed the Federal Constitution, and in 
the legislatures of the several States when it was sub- 
mitted for adoption, the advantages and disadvantages 
of a confederacy were discussed by the eloquent Henry, 
the able Madison, the satirical Randolph, the logical 
Hamilton, the eminent Martin, and the constitutional 
Marshall — giants in intellect, by the side of whom the 
leading men in the South are but pigmies ; and after a 
discussion that has not its equal for sound and enlarged 
views, for eloquence and ability, in the history of the 
world, a confederacy was almost unanimously con- 
demned. 

Its vital defects are weakness and want of duration. 
What has been the fate of confederacies? In early 
times we had the Amphictyonic council, the Archaean 
and ^tolian leagues, and what was their fate ? S^^eedy 
dissolution. The confederacies of more recent times 
died out in the same manner. Deprived of that coercive 
principle, without which government is ineffectual or no 
crovernment at all, they lacked the perpetuating power. 

The inherent weakness of the Southern Confederacy 
is an objectionable feature that would cause its speedy 
fall. The union of separate sovereignties, under a con- 
stitution that allows the connection to be severed at any 
time, by any one of its integral parts at will, is like pas- 
sional attraction in the social state, and is just about as 
durable. 

Would that the words of Edmund Randolph, one 
of the South's most able sous, could be inscribed in let- 
ters of gold and read from the banks of the Potomac to 
those of the Rio Grande ! Hear what he says : " To 



21 

those that advocate local confederacies and at the same 
time preach up for republican liberty, I answer, that their 
conduct is inconsistent ; the defence of such partial con- 
federacies will require such a degree of force and ex- 
pense as will destroy every feature of republicanism.'' 

There is not a man in the South (always excepting 
the demagogues) but what would prefer a return to the 
"Union as it was— the Constitution as it is," if he could 
be made to believe in the truth of history as regards 

confederacies. 

Let our misguided brethren, then, return to us. 
United, we are strong as the lion; divided, we're weak 

as the lamb. 

From the advantages to the South of a reunion and 
the disadvantages, of separation, a few of the more im- 
portant of which we have enumerated, we unhesitatmg- 
ly assert that there is no reason to despair of the Eepub- 
lie. Every one of the reasons we've mentioned is as 
well known to the leaders of this rebellion as it is to 
us. All that we ask is their fair agitation among the 
Southern masses, and reflection will accomplish the rest. 
It will be perceived that we favor a voluntary reunion, 
to be effected hj force of reason— ^oi an involuntary 
one, to be accomplished \,j force of arms. What^then? 
Stop fighting! cries some excitable patriot. No, not 
that! we answer as before. The conservative North is 
sick at heart with the way in which military matters 
have been managed. It is not always proper for civd- 
ians to criticize military measures, but wheu such mea- 
sures are glaringly wrong, it is not amiss to respectfully 
ask: "Messrs. Commander and General -in-chief, are you 
sure you're right?" The South has pursued one plan, 



22 

and that is Concentration. The North has pursued an- 
other plan, and that is Diffusion. The heart of the 
South beats strong, notwithstanding the blows adminis- 
tered to its extremities. The North, whose business it 
was to strike straight at the heart, has been thumping 
about the feet and hands. If we wished to destroy 
Briareus, would we commence to lop off one after the 
other of his hundred hands ? Yet this has been the 
military policy of the North. It's wrong. The conser- 
vative North 23roclaims it wrong, and the Administra- 
tion must heed the proclamation. If the expedition 
under General Banks, that has just left our shores, has 
for its object any other than cooperation with General 
Burnside's forces, it will deserve the deepest denuncia- 
tion. 

Is not the situation of our country now worse than 
it was in 1*Z81? Our situation was such then, that the 
powers of a dictator were given to Washington to save 
us from destruction. Is the country now not worth as 
much as it was then ? If yea, let us make one more at- 
tempt to save it, by placing in the hands of our Com- 
mander-in-chief the means to vanquish the army before 
Richmond within three months ; but in the name of hu- 
manity, let us (like any prudent business man) hold him, 
our agent as lie is^ to a strict account if he abuses the 
power we grant. The plea oi puhllG necessity should 
be the last to be plead. But let tliose that use it re- 
member that it is a two-edged sword. If "public ne- 
cessity" demanded the arrest of the citizen in defiance 
of the Constitution and the laws, cannot "j)ublic neces- 
sity," with equal justice, in defiance of the Constitution 
and the laws, demand the deposition of those who have 



23 

abused and continue to abuse tlie trust reposed in tliem 
by tlie people ? This war cannot last to the end of the 
present Administration. The people will not allow it. 
What are we then to do ? 

There are ways in which a speedy settlement 
could be obtained. History is an eloquent teacher 
upon this point; and even if she were not, we trust 
that ardent patriotism would guide us as by instinct 
Ways — that are harsh and violent, so much so that 
they would grate upon republican ears and cannot be 
mentioned. Ways — not to be talked of and con- 
sidered, but to be acted upon when the time comes. 
Until that time comes, there is but one way, and that 
is : by a determined and energetic j^rosecution of the 
war by the " powers that be." 

Let us then rise in our misrht to strike one more 
blow, but one only. If a draft is necessary, let it 
come, but let it be equally and persistently enforced. 
But there would be no occasion for a draft if the 
Government would pursue the right policy. Let our 
forces be concentrated. Recall the troops from the 
garrison of all places of secondary importance. We 
abandon a military now, only to acquire a civil pos- 
session hereafter. Gather a sufficient force in front of 
Richmond to overcome all resistance beyond a shadow 
of doubt. But Washington must be protected. Let 
the President, then, say to the people of the North : 
"I have an army before Richmond ready to advance 
and give the death blow to rebellion. Whilst that 
army goes forth to fight, I summon all loyal freemen to 
the defence of our national capital." What would be 
the response ? If Pennsylvania could raise 100,000 vol- 



24 

unteers in seven days to defend lier soil from the pollu- 
tion of Rebel arms, what could not the combined North 
do? Washington guarded, the army advance, and 
within a week's time, the resting place in this war, for 
which we all long, is attained. 

We have the strongest belief that, after a conclusive 
battle, a formal, or at any rate a quasi submission would 
follow. Then, on the instant, before the enemy had 
time to reoro^anize his scattered forces, before the rancor 
of defeat could poison his heart, ay, before the dead on 
the field are entombed, let loose the bird of peace, with 
its head turned southward, and our word upon it, the 
faithful messeno^er would return to the ark of the Union 
with the olive branch in its beak. Proclaim an amnes- 
ty ! Call a convention ! Set the political cauldron 
agoing. Throw in free trade and protective tariff side 
by side ; Louisiana sugar against Ohio corn ; Alabama 
cotton against Long Island hay ; rice, hemp, and sugar 
against the manufactures of the New England States. 
Make way for South Carolina, whilst she cries : '^ Re- 
newal of the slave trade ;" and stand back for Massa- 
chusetts as she shrieks : '' Down with slavery." Let 
antidote go with bane. Rake the fire ! Stir the med- 
ley ! Seethe and bubble ! Presto ! pass ! Ujj springs 
the tutelary Goddess of our Union — in her outstretch- 
ed hand the glorious Flag, revealing the gleaming rej^re- 
sentatives of every State. All there ! Not one gone ! 
Is not the picture a gloiious one ? Is there a man with 
soul so base as not to feel his heart dilate within him at 
so desirable a termination of our difficulties ? Alas ! 
there is. Not one, but many. Many, yet relatively 
few. There are those who would trample actual liberty 



25 

iu tlie dust to relieve imaginary oppression ; who would 
commit tlie maximum of evil to accomplish the mini- 
mum of good. Poor, crazed monomaniacs, that cry out 
to their deluded followers : " Perish the Constitution ! 
Perish Liberty! Perish the Hope of Ages! Perish 
everything ! But let not Slavery live !" Infatuated 
souls, that would annihilate God, if they believed Ilim 
to differ with themselves upon any trifling point. 

The days of bigotry are not over yet. The Round- 
head and Puritan survive in their descendants. Perse- 
cution for opinion's sake is a weed that grows in our 
Northern soil as rank and luxuriant as it did iu Spanish 
grounds. It is the weed that has in all ages choked up 
the good that man would do. 

The zeal of the propagandist is usually measured 
by his ignorance, and his ignorance by his zeal. Of all 
propagandism in recent times, the anti -slavery of the 
North has been the most zealous, and therefore the 
most ignorant. Plowever correct, in the abstract, its 
tenets may be, the practical results are such as to cause 
a shudder of horror to every enlightened mind. "We 
are not, for reasons already indicated, one of those v/ho 
believe the conflicting oj)inions of the two sections of 
the country upon the subject of slavery to have been 
the only cause of the present strife. If our opinion 
upon this point were asked, we would reply, iu the 
words of a respectable merchant of Charleston, South 
Carolina, of twenty years' standing, who, when solicited 
by us for his opinion as to the cause of the war, an- 
swered : " Good God ! my dear friend ; every fifth man 
in the South wants to be President." 

Ambition (the sin l)y which the angels fell) will be 



26 

charged by history with her share of this accursed work. 
And yet, if ambition was the instigator of the war, to the 
anti-slavery element belongs the honor or dishonor of 
its prolongation. Were it not for the retarding force 
brought to bear upon the Administration by the uncon- 
ditional abolitionists, we believe that the action of the 
Government would be more energetic — more decisive, 
less spasmodic. It is to this disastrous pressure that we 
owe the Confiscation iVct and the Emancipation Procla- 
mation ; both foolish, unconstitutional measures, that 
must be, the one repealed, the other withdrawn. The 
friends of the Administration claim that the Emanci- 
pation decree was made in pursuance of the war power 
vested in the ' President. War power ! what war 
j)ower ? Vested ! how vested ? when vested ? Will 
some friend of the Administration point us to a decla- 
ration of war ? There is no such thing. The theory 
of the Government, laid down in every state paper 
from the inaugural to the recent message, is that there 
is a rebellion — no war. Why did we feel so offended 
at foreign Governments for recognizing the South as 
belligerents ? Because we regarded the taking up of 
arms as an insurrection. We have either a rebellion or 
a war. If a rebellion (and the Government has per- 
sisted in calling it a rebellion), it must be suppressed by 
the authorities against whom the rebellion is made, and 
that, too, in a lawful, constitutional way ; for otherwise 
the Government must confess to an inherent weakness 
that it is impolitic to own. If this is a war, then the 
argument about the war power might be urged with 
some degree of plausibility. But the Administration 
act as if they desire to maintain this anomalous posi- 



27 

tion : so far as neutral nations are concerned, tliis is a 
rebellion, and the insurgents are not to be treated as 
belligerents ; so far as our domestic policy is concerned, 
tliis is a rebellion or war, as we clioose to treat it — 
therefore tlie Emancipation decree is all riglit, being 
but tlie exercise of the war power. But can the Gov- 
ernment blow hot and cold out of the same mouth, to 
serve several purposes ? Is it fair ? Is it honorable ? 
Is not this vacillating, ecpiivocal policy the cause of the 
forfeiture of the respect of foreign nations ? 

To whom are we indebted for this detestable policy, 
that has been at once the source of our foreign compli- 
cations and the cause of the war's continuance ? We 
answer, to the rabid factionists of the North, who are 
bent — not upon a restoration of the Union, but upon its 
destruction, and the establishment of a military dtspotism 
in its place. Such is the inevitable tendency of their 
views ; whether intentioned or not, is immaterial. 

If conquest' — subjugation — annihilation — are the ob- 
jects of this struggle, we cry, in the name of the people, 
" Stop it ! " If, to adopt the language of a leader of 
this faction, we are " to whip the South, then let 
them go," we urge the propriety of inquiring into 
our ability to perform and the good acquired in 
effecting the chastisement, before we risk the chance of 
a failure. If, on the other hand, our object is to con- 
quer an honorable and enduring peace, let us go forth 
and do it. If this struggle eventuates in a harmonious 
and perj)etual reunion, then the lives and treasure so 
freely given will induce a chastened joy to us and our 
descendants down to the last syllable of recorded time ; 
but if our brothers, fathers, and husbands have fallen in 



28 

a barren cause, and our property, tlie stay of our life, is 
swept away by tlie l^room of tlie exciseman, tlien indeed 
will tlie lamentation of Jeremiah be heard throughout 
the length and breadth of this once prosperous land. 



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